Thursday, March 12, 2015

A German Tradition

In our house during the holidays we have a tradition. My mother's mother's side of the family came over from Austria in 1906 and with them they brought a Christmas tradition that we've kept up to this day. Pfeffernuesse. In our home it's simply called the German Cookie. Besides sugar cookies it is the most liked and asked for treat. Well, besides home made bread and cinnamon rolls.

Pfeffernuesse Recipe:
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter
2 beaten eggs
4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

The first step is to cook and stir the molasses and butter on the stove until the butter melts. Be careful to keep an eye on the pot as the molasses can burn. Once the butter is melted, pull the pot off the stove and let it sit until it cools to room temperature. The trick to this recipe is to wait. Where I am at it usually takes 30 to 40 minutes.
From there stir in the beaten eggs. Then you add the flour, sugar and spices. Mix it well, as well as you can get it. Then set the mixture in the refrigerator and let it get cold. But don't let is sit too long. It should clump together but not be sticky. Once it is ready shape the dough into one inch balls and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.
Once they are cool roll them in powdered sugar. And you have "German Cookies".



What food tradition do you have within your family?


5 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

My mom had a recipe for Pfeffernuesse but I don't think it had molasses and it did have finely chopped nuts. Will have to get out the old family cookbook and check it out. They were a family favorite!

Do you also make pecan sticky buns? When I made our bread, etc. that was a favorite. The problem now is if I make anything, I'm the only one here to eat it so I've cut way back on everything.

Good memories seeing the finished product!

Sarah Raplee said...

Grandma's Sugar Cookies are a holiday tradition at our house. Pfeffernuesse sound delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

maepen said...

Good morning Girls. Judith, I haven't tried making pecan sticky buns but I might have to add that to my list to try. The kids love my home baked bread and cinnamon rolls.
Sarah, my husband steals all the sugar cookies. LOL. I have to make him his own recipe so he'll leave the kids' alone.

Diana McCollum said...

My mouth was watering after reading your blog post! I love holiday baking, my favorite thing to do at holiday time.

Pippa Jay said...

They sound yum! A tradition for special occasions has become my husband's brownies - nicknamed Killer Chocolate Brownies because they're so rich. Hence why we only have them for very, very special celebrations!